First are a joke, and a very bad one at at that! Transforming Travel? Yeh, into an abysmal and expensive failure for users, yet one which nets themselves huge profits for threadbare service provision.
This monstrously ugly vehicle fails to achieve what it sets out to other than in one respect, namely imitating a light rail vehicle cheaply and nastily.
Of course that's Firsts' major consideration, and also to try and impose pay freezes on their drivers in 2009 too. They're utterly shameful
I think these buses are UGLY I hate all the purple too. You will see in a few years all the fancy screens and doors will break, nothing will work and they will annoy everyone. All bus companies need to get the idea of "if we get some new buses everyone will go on them" WRONG if you come on time, have lots of services and low fares then people will go on them.
these buses are alot better than the service here in Canada the buses all are set to leave at the same time and then you have three buses going the same route not to mention our high fares for this service which ae constantly being changed with very little notice oh and i should mention the drivers and their very poor attitude towards customers but then again this is a government service SUPRISE!!!!
Secondly the traffic system in York is an absolute joke. If the City Of York Council got their act together (ha!) and placed a congestion charge say, between 0730 and 1800, a two mile radius outside the city centre (or even inside the city walls), then traffic would flow a lot better. All you have to do is look at the chaos being caused by Old Moor Lane bridge being shut. The stupid idiots never bothered to change the light phasing so the traffic queues right back on St. Helens Road!!!
I work for First on the FTR as a driver and I get sick of people saying "They're too big for the roads" or "They're always running late and there's no room to sit down."
When I started 10 years ago it was a 15 minute service from the University and a half hour service from Foxwood into town with rickety old vehicles that were 15-20 years old then.
Exactly. It's not like a tram or train where the buttons only work when the driver unlocks the doors.
Yet the FTR is supposed to be more like a tram. I'd have thought that passenger-operated doors would be one of the simplest things to do (it's only a minor change in the circuit) - much easier than trying to improve accessibility or to deal with the narrow bit in the middle of the vehicle!
I've been on the FTR in Leeds and when the passenger uses the door button as the driver closes it, it corrupts the door system as the bus will not move as the doors are jammed open and won't close. That's why First use this penalty to stop passengers "breaking" the doors.
Stupid passengers would open them before the bus came to a stop. Also the front doors can't open when the steering wheels are on right-hand lock.
The FTR's are most likely going to be replaced at the end of its contract by the Mercedes Citaro's, which are working on the Park and Ride, and go back to OPO working
in london and also introduce an oyster concept which sheffield is getting later this year on the trams and buses. the fares are going up and buses will be left empty due to the expensive price for an unreliable service, look at the sunbday service, every half an hour!!! and when the bus does come, the queue is really long and its standing room only. FIRST NEED TO IMPROVE RELIABILITY AND LOWER FARES, NOT PUT THEM UP, AS WHAT THE PAPER SAID ABOUT FIRST LEAVING THE CITY WILL BECOME REALITY
any of yas remember that whole tram-train concept for the park and ride sites - what happened to that, would have been much better investment than these things. the conductors are rude, average age about 14 and allow their freinds to skip paying fares - thats not fair. i rarely use this bus ( im a number 5 man - which is also terrible for reliability). if york wants to promote greener living we need to make servies run on time, more frequent , better passenger information systems like those
A RELIABLE bus service in York ? ... fat chance of that .. ha ha, they run two buses together or they are both late .. that is how they have always run them.
Regarding your comments on the traffic lights, your comment is not correct - this system has been implemented and works very efficiently, with good input from the Local Authority to ensure the success of it. The vehicles are tracked using a form of GPS system, that connects to the traffic light co-ordination network (among other things) and changes the lights accordingly, particularly when the ftr is late. The lights you show on red are an independant pedestrian crossing, located at Nessgate.
If this happened, motorists would be very annoyed. Being forced off the roads would be a massive blow.
I do get the point though, as there really isn't much road capacity in York, and the public transport would work better without so many cars clogging up the roads.
Perhaps they need to have one trial day when cars are banned from the city centre and the benefits of having only buses, taxis and delivery vehicles shown.
Once people realise that buses CAN be reliable, there may be a shift.
I wrote a letter to the Green Party in York, saying they should be thinking about Parry People Movers as a way of cost-effectively covering York with an extensive tram system.
Seeing as they've already proposed an expansion of the tram-train planned for after 2012.
They replied! And hopefully, they might sway investment away from road schemes like the outer ring road, and provide a more attractive alternative to car and bus.
I feel that the FTR is a great idea because you have the Tram effect .. but without the cost of laying tracks and digging up the roads.
I vote for the Green Party and they have some wonderful idea`s .. but sadly` we both know they will never come to power.
I can not understand why the local council have NOT used the railway to link the outer City area`s,this would be the best idea and it would be cost-effective,it would bring life back to the railways while removing traffic off the roads.
There's a plan to build a new business park in Monks Cross costing £300 million for the bank HSBC.
Whilst it will create many jobs, I really wish that they'd put it near or in Copmanthorpe so that a new station could have been built there and car dependence reduced.
Few business people would get on a bus to reach the business park!
I live in Glasgow And For Some Reason They Haven't Bothered Bringing them up Here. I Think They Look Soooo Cool! And Would Love To Use Them But As Usual England Gets It...
Actually we pay more per head on Scottish people in taxes than we do on English people and yes, seeing as though there are ten times the number of people in England than in Scotland we deserve proportionately more in England. Besides these buses are just like any other bus, noisy and polluting. In Leeds they have them on one line in place of a tram, which Leeds has been denied despite being a larger city than Glasgow in a larger conurbation than Glasgow, but you guys still have the subway...
Despite the higher construction costs and more planning required, yet again the tram has been a proven method of regeneration and for getting cities moving again.
I am a user of them buses but they are not that good, you should try going on that bus at about 8 o clock in the morning and starting the journey from Foxwood. It is a nightmare. They have a conductor on them because the ticket machines were unreliable, some of them are rude.
Perhaps a York Oyster Card would get rid of this problem?
Route 4 is too circuitous around acomb - it quite literally weaves within it. Although Route 1 does provide a direct alternative from the north of Acomb to the city!
Is it any wonder why were so rude? We get hassle off customers, we get people having a go at us because the buses are late due to traffic. We get school kids PLUS University shits.
Alister Darling cancelled the Leeds Supertram, and now leeds has FTR's instead - the "poor man's tram" in my eyes. Do you know why passenegrs aren't allowed to press the door open button? because when they were first introduced people could, but the doors slammed shut as soon as they were open and broke peoples arms! instead of fixing it, WorstGroup has put warning notices saying you will be fined if you press the button... they took the cheap/money making way out as always.
If they had sorted out optical obstruction sensors or put flaps on the sides of doors that make them come open again if touched, people wouldn't be hurt.
This is how the Sheffield Supertram does it.
In Stuttgart, Germany, the tram/metro doors close soon after being opened (in order to leave the stop as soon as possible). I think they have similar sensors to Sheffield's. They definitely have very similar doors.
Yeah, the ex-bradford Volvo B7 artics we have on the park-and-ride services have these sensors over the doors, they are "eye-tech" type strip sensors the same as you have on automatic swing doors at train stations and such like (as they run on 12v same as buses), but the FTR's don't have this at all.
I'm waiting to see what the new Mercedes Citaro bendy's for york's P&R services will be like when they arrive - sensors for doors..
These buses are a waste of space, give me a double decker anyday.
There are reasons for driver operation of the doors. 1st, there is the obvious safety issues, people are not likely to know what to do. This relates to the 2nd reason, which is down to insurance, given that the insurance is far more complex when members of the public are operating moving parts of the vehicle themselves. 3rd, this would be open to abuse! When the button is pressed the brakes slam all on automatically, resulting in an immediate safety issue if pressed/leant on at the wrong time.
You should realise that on trams the passenger door buttons are completely safe because they only become operational when the driver activates them from the cab. If a similar system was adopted for the FTR it would cause no problems except for initial passenger unfamiliarity.
Most emergency opening mechanisms on trams and trains are handles protected by glass that must be broken to access them.
Buses in Brussels and Stuttgart have passenger buttons.
If a decent model of ticket machine had been bought for both on board buses and on street, we wouldn't have had so many people needing to buy tickets off conductors.
I am sure there are far more reliable ticket machines available than what were used when FTR was introduced.
Remember, York is a historic city with many bumpy narrow streets thus making it impossible to have the smooth road's with bus lanes we'd all love to have..
I admit this, but it was worse at many junctions/crossroads such as the one between Rougier Street and Station Road. The traffic lights shown on the video could actually be regarded as good compared to other ones. Even on the traffic lights shown, I went on another ftr the same day, and I was held up for longer.
Perhaps if there weren't so many cars in York, people could get around more quickly in general.
It don't get stuck at every light, they can change them, but it depends on the timing. Often the Rawcliffe Bar P+R lights change, then a bus comes flying out, and in bus lanes they jump the queues in their own lane changing their own lights!
Is there anything particularly different about the Leeds ones to the York one? Hopefully the promoters of 'Swansea Metro' will have learnt the lessons of Leeds and York while they have the chance (i.e also watch this video), otherwise the Swansea ftr will be a disappointment.
Realistically, though, cities the size of Swansea and above should have a decent tram system to give the cities structure and attract new businesses. Britain is losing out to Europe because of the lack of mass transit.
For a while now (possibly before I even made this video), staff have been issuing tickets rather than the machines. This makes great sense in terms of customer service, but how could they do that when the bus is full?
Also, wouldn't it be a good idea now to simply remove the 'no entry' stickers from the back door and encourage people to enter it from the street as they would on a tram?
After all, the only reason for the front door entry was to make sure ppl passed the ticket machine.
the government appears to be constantly pressuarising and hounding out motorists. owning and maintaining a car is already shockingly extrotionate, without more taxes based upon the un-proven theory of global warming. im thinking seriously about getting rid of my car - even though its a peice of crap it still metaphorically rapes my savings. as a country were going to hell in a handbasket.
It taxes people for the 'privilege' of using public transport so they get in their cars, then the government gets loads of fuel duty from people who have lost faith! They are holding us to ransom
Passengers used to be able to push the button to open the doors themselves... But because First copped-out and never installed safety sensors above the doors, the doors instantly shut as soon as they were open and broke peoples' arms.
Have you ever heard them when the aircon is on full blast? NOISY!!
they get stuck on roundabouts
people have been prosecuted and fined £500 even though their ticket was valid, but stupid machine didn't work.
Surely the passenger-operated buttons would not be the problem if the doors were closed by the driver and not by themselves while someone is still getting on or off! Perhaps auto-close wasn't needed - the doors only respond to driver command now!
I rode on one these a while ago. I get the impression they are one big cop out. as far as buses go, they are very good. But however you dress it up, it still IS just a bus. The Cities of the North need and deserve dedicated Metro systems if people living there are to be persuaded to leave their cars at home. A nice well rounded video though. A good review of the ftr.
Yes, Britain should NOT have got rid of its tram lines as these would be very useful now.
Also, why has Birmingham, an area comparable to the size of Barcelona (itself with SIX metro lines) with nearly a million people not including the other West Midlands cities, not got an Underground whilst Newcastle (smaller than Birmingham) has?
And the Midland Metro tram doesn't even go to New Street station!
And the ftr is the cheapo way of our government saying it has done its bit (which it has not really!)
Think of Leeds. It is HUGE and has upwards of 500,000 people with Bradford (another giant of 300 to 400,000 people) right next door!
West Yorkshire should have been top priority for a tram or metro, yet all it gets is a bus with a tram costume on! The Leeds Supertram needs reinstating NOW.
Blame ALISTER DARLING. This joke of a man denied funding for several projects to save the government money, yet was smiling ear-to-ear when FTR got launched (as it was nice and cheap)...
Alister Darling tried to save money as Transport Secretary, and as Chancellor he has potentiall lost loads of money through the lost discs saga... anyone would think he can't do his job!!
York might even get a tram-train on the Harrogate line (being converted for this) - it could lead to trams in the centre! This is far more attractive than just another bus.
The ftr should really be for cities of York's size at the most, and all other places should have their trams back!
There appear to be upwards of 2 million people in the West Midlands (according to Google Earth). I am surprised that things aren't really really bad there. The road network must be creaking at the schemes with this poor provision of mass transit.
What happened to the big red busses of the West Yorkshire Bus Co.? And the dark blue East Yorkshire double-deckers shaped to pass under the arch at Beverley?
Now the East Yorkshire buses are red (and just standard modern ones), whilst there is no longer one called West Yorkshire Bus Co (alternatively it might have been what Coastliner was before).
It looks like FirstGroup are dissing the traditional double decker in favour of FTR. However, other bus companies such as Stagecoach and Cardiff Bus are being more sensible and are either getting new double decks or conventional artics.
Sorry, I thought you were insulting bwhugul, I was mistaken. please accept my apologies. Sorry once again, and do actually agree with your comments about certain people now I know who they were direced at.
Well done, a very informative video, shame about the racist and homophobic comments (willforbes), the paranoid whinging(shortbusdriver), and the misspelling of "bus" by thechaplian. I think that there is similar issues with the Mercedes Citaro buses in London, as they have troubles with roads and cyclists there.
i did not write any racist or homophobic comments. i was just defending ben from the 40 year old dickwipe who came on here accusing him of breaking the law.
the ticket machine dosnt give change and now theyve stopped using them because they always break!!! the stop alert is a stupid jingle and the next stop sign should be bigger and clearer and if there oing to call it the future why not have one by every few seats or in the back of the seats!!!!!!! the doors are slow to open and you have a stupid 1 way in system unlike trams where you can use any door and you cant open the door for yourselves!!!!!
I totally agree with you on almost all the points you made! By looking at your username it appears you live in York so you must be very familiar with the FTR and will know what is best to be improved about it!
There are many other better ticket machines First could have chosen. I don't see why they chose a rubbish one!
They COULD have allowed people to enter via either door if another ticket machine had been put at the back. I guess they were trying to save money by squeezing everyone past the single ticket machine.
As for the stop displays it would have been pretty easy to put a red LED strip display with moving text (if you get what I mean!) onto the back of the seats and protect them from vandals by hard plastic covering.
As for the door opening things, pressing the open button in a tram has ZERO effect unless the doors are released by the drivers. This method is SAFE, perhaps safer than if the doors were opened automatically by the driver as the person opening the door can see if someone is leaning against it whilst the driver's view is more limited!
I did NOT mean that passenger buttons should have an effect on the doors regardless of the bus being stationary or in motion. I meant that the driver would enable the passenger buttons and electrically LOCK the doors when they have closed. An emergency method of opening is retained, usually in the form of a handle with severe penalty for misuse.
By the 'qualities of a tram', I meant geniune features of a tram (which include the passenger buttons), not ones only used in emergencies on buses.
And WHAT offences have I committed. List the offences if you really care about it. I did NOT misuse emergency controls, I did NOT harass staff (I kept the camera away from people where possible), I MODIFIED the screenshot of the traffic light claims.
Tight laws on filming in public apply to big rail interchanges and airports far more than they do on the street. As far as I am aware only on trains are conductors or other staff at all likely to baulk at someone else filming inside.
Another bus driver also commented on this page. He did not mention these laws about filming in public. If he was not antagonised about the interior of a bus being filmed by a member of the travelling public, does this really matter?
Actually seeing the positive and negative things about a vehicle for real is more effective than simply reading something that was written down about it. People are more likely to believe it if they actually see it. I am also providing feedback in the process, albeit in a different way to other customers.
Are people who film inside transport out of their own interest/hobby, or take interest in how things like buses and trams are operated, always regarded as terrorists?
and I did not film people - the camera was pointing at features of the vehicle and not the people. The closest thing to filming people was at 1 minutes 30 seconds and even then, it was showing the blue Yorkshire Coastliner bus through the window instead
This video sucks ass. The buses aren't any different to ordinary busses - slightly more fuel efficient, but beyond that they are just busses and everyone in york sees them that way. Whoever made this video is a grade-A numpty. In fact - don't ever post again and save us all the hassle of laughing at you!
THE COMMENT IS SIMPLE, i am in york 5 days a week and cannot stand these hideous pink gay buses. they take up to much space and the 'amazing' technology inside is a waste of space. ps the music is as gay as julian clary
Very good points brought up on this vehicle. When i was a driver for Nottingham City Transport, they brought in bendy buses and said they would go anywhere a full size bus would, this wasn't the case, as in your points, if they want it to perform like a tram give it priority at lights and its own lanes.
You can't get a bus with 42 mtrs lenght per exemple and the bus is instable by heavy weight at high speed..Thanks for the respond on my video T2000-3000-4000...Sorry for my awfull english !
First are a joke, and a very bad one at at that! Transforming Travel? Yeh, into an abysmal and expensive failure for users, yet one which nets themselves huge profits for threadbare service provision.
This monstrously ugly vehicle fails to achieve what it sets out to other than in one respect, namely imitating a light rail vehicle cheaply and nastily.
Of course that's Firsts' major consideration, and also to try and impose pay freezes on their drivers in 2009 too. They're utterly shameful
islandtraction 2 years ago 4
I think these buses are UGLY I hate all the purple too. You will see in a few years all the fancy screens and doors will break, nothing will work and they will annoy everyone. All bus companies need to get the idea of "if we get some new buses everyone will go on them" WRONG if you come on time, have lots of services and low fares then people will go on them.
Electric77887 2 years ago 3
these buses are alot better than the service here in Canada the buses all are set to leave at the same time and then you have three buses going the same route not to mention our high fares for this service which ae constantly being changed with very little notice oh and i should mention the drivers and their very poor attitude towards customers but then again this is a government service SUPRISE!!!!
scottyboi159 3 years ago
Secondly the traffic system in York is an absolute joke. If the City Of York Council got their act together (ha!) and placed a congestion charge say, between 0730 and 1800, a two mile radius outside the city centre (or even inside the city walls), then traffic would flow a lot better. All you have to do is look at the chaos being caused by Old Moor Lane bridge being shut. The stupid idiots never bothered to change the light phasing so the traffic queues right back on St. Helens Road!!!
coastlinersmithy 3 years ago
I work for First on the FTR as a driver and I get sick of people saying "They're too big for the roads" or "They're always running late and there's no room to sit down."
When I started 10 years ago it was a 15 minute service from the University and a half hour service from Foxwood into town with rickety old vehicles that were 15-20 years old then.
coastlinersmithy 3 years ago
You can get fined £100 by pressing the passenger door button if there's no emergency.
dancemusic0 3 years ago
Exactly. It's not like a tram or train where the buttons only work when the driver unlocks the doors.
Yet the FTR is supposed to be more like a tram. I'd have thought that passenger-operated doors would be one of the simplest things to do (it's only a minor change in the circuit) - much easier than trying to improve accessibility or to deal with the narrow bit in the middle of the vehicle!
bwhugul 3 years ago
I've been on the FTR in Leeds and when the passenger uses the door button as the driver closes it, it corrupts the door system as the bus will not move as the doors are jammed open and won't close. That's why First use this penalty to stop passengers "breaking" the doors.
dancemusic0 3 years ago
Stupid passengers would open them before the bus came to a stop. Also the front doors can't open when the steering wheels are on right-hand lock.
The FTR's are most likely going to be replaced at the end of its contract by the Mercedes Citaro's, which are working on the Park and Ride, and go back to OPO working
coastlinersmithy 3 years ago
and then we will have to use them veolia ones which run about 1 bus every hour.
yorkyboy1992 3 years ago
in london and also introduce an oyster concept which sheffield is getting later this year on the trams and buses. the fares are going up and buses will be left empty due to the expensive price for an unreliable service, look at the sunbday service, every half an hour!!! and when the bus does come, the queue is really long and its standing room only. FIRST NEED TO IMPROVE RELIABILITY AND LOWER FARES, NOT PUT THEM UP, AS WHAT THE PAPER SAID ABOUT FIRST LEAVING THE CITY WILL BECOME REALITY
yorkyboy1992 3 years ago
any of yas remember that whole tram-train concept for the park and ride sites - what happened to that, would have been much better investment than these things. the conductors are rude, average age about 14 and allow their freinds to skip paying fares - thats not fair. i rarely use this bus ( im a number 5 man - which is also terrible for reliability). if york wants to promote greener living we need to make servies run on time, more frequent , better passenger information systems like those
yorkyboy1992 3 years ago
A RELIABLE bus service in York ? ... fat chance of that .. ha ha, they run two buses together or they are both late .. that is how they have always run them.
it sounds like a nice idea.
CARLOS62B 3 years ago
Regarding your comments on the traffic lights, your comment is not correct - this system has been implemented and works very efficiently, with good input from the Local Authority to ensure the success of it. The vehicles are tracked using a form of GPS system, that connects to the traffic light co-ordination network (among other things) and changes the lights accordingly, particularly when the ftr is late. The lights you show on red are an independant pedestrian crossing, located at Nessgate.
FYE2000 3 years ago
That makes sense!
bwhugul 3 years ago
The FTR/TRAM idea will only work IF the local council ban ALL transport within the City with the Exception of Bus and Taxi Sevices.
CARLOS62B 3 years ago
If this happened, motorists would be very annoyed. Being forced off the roads would be a massive blow.
I do get the point though, as there really isn't much road capacity in York, and the public transport would work better without so many cars clogging up the roads.
Perhaps they need to have one trial day when cars are banned from the city centre and the benefits of having only buses, taxis and delivery vehicles shown.
Once people realise that buses CAN be reliable, there may be a shift.
bwhugul 3 years ago
I wrote a letter to the Green Party in York, saying they should be thinking about Parry People Movers as a way of cost-effectively covering York with an extensive tram system.
Seeing as they've already proposed an expansion of the tram-train planned for after 2012.
They replied! And hopefully, they might sway investment away from road schemes like the outer ring road, and provide a more attractive alternative to car and bus.
bwhugul 3 years ago
I feel that the FTR is a great idea because you have the Tram effect .. but without the cost of laying tracks and digging up the roads.
I vote for the Green Party and they have some wonderful idea`s .. but sadly` we both know they will never come to power.
I can not understand why the local council have NOT used the railway to link the outer City area`s,this would be the best idea and it would be cost-effective,it would bring life back to the railways while removing traffic off the roads.
CARLOS62B 3 years ago 2
There's a plan to build a new business park in Monks Cross costing £300 million for the bank HSBC.
Whilst it will create many jobs, I really wish that they'd put it near or in Copmanthorpe so that a new station could have been built there and car dependence reduced.
Few business people would get on a bus to reach the business park!
bwhugul 3 years ago
I found your video very amusing.
good footage .. wonderful facts and great choice of music.
SCORE ...... 8/10
CARLOS62B 3 years ago
Thank you!
At the time I wasn't really sure what would happen if I used some mainstream music instead!
Now I am sure that artists shouldn't make a fuss - in fact I think they'd prefer their music to get more widely known!
bwhugul 3 years ago
I live in Glasgow And For Some Reason They Haven't Bothered Bringing them up Here. I Think They Look Soooo Cool! And Would Love To Use Them But As Usual England Gets It...
StillGame96 3 years ago
Actually we pay more per head on Scottish people in taxes than we do on English people and yes, seeing as though there are ten times the number of people in England than in Scotland we deserve proportionately more in England. Besides these buses are just like any other bus, noisy and polluting. In Leeds they have them on one line in place of a tram, which Leeds has been denied despite being a larger city than Glasgow in a larger conurbation than Glasgow, but you guys still have the subway...
bb1crew 3 years ago 2
...and Edinburgh is getting its tram.
bb1crew 3 years ago
Despite the higher construction costs and more planning required, yet again the tram has been a proven method of regeneration and for getting cities moving again.
bwhugul 3 years ago
I am a user of them buses but they are not that good, you should try going on that bus at about 8 o clock in the morning and starting the journey from Foxwood. It is a nightmare. They have a conductor on them because the ticket machines were unreliable, some of them are rude.
ChrisGS1982 3 years ago
Perhaps a York Oyster Card would get rid of this problem?
Route 4 is too circuitous around acomb - it quite literally weaves within it. Although Route 1 does provide a direct alternative from the north of Acomb to the city!
bwhugul 3 years ago
Is it any wonder why were so rude? We get hassle off customers, we get people having a go at us because the buses are late due to traffic. We get school kids PLUS University shits.
The job isn't easy, stop complaining.
beccariot2008 3 years ago
I can complain if I like.
ChrisGS1982 3 years ago
Those Ftrs were a mistake for York.
ChrisGS1982 3 years ago
Alister Darling cancelled the Leeds Supertram, and now leeds has FTR's instead - the "poor man's tram" in my eyes. Do you know why passenegrs aren't allowed to press the door open button? because when they were first introduced people could, but the doors slammed shut as soon as they were open and broke peoples arms! instead of fixing it, WorstGroup has put warning notices saying you will be fined if you press the button... they took the cheap/money making way out as always.
mazeteam 3 years ago
If they had sorted out optical obstruction sensors or put flaps on the sides of doors that make them come open again if touched, people wouldn't be hurt.
This is how the Sheffield Supertram does it.
In Stuttgart, Germany, the tram/metro doors close soon after being opened (in order to leave the stop as soon as possible). I think they have similar sensors to Sheffield's. They definitely have very similar doors.
bwhugul 3 years ago
Yeah, the ex-bradford Volvo B7 artics we have on the park-and-ride services have these sensors over the doors, they are "eye-tech" type strip sensors the same as you have on automatic swing doors at train stations and such like (as they run on 12v same as buses), but the FTR's don't have this at all.
I'm waiting to see what the new Mercedes Citaro bendy's for york's P&R services will be like when they arrive - sensors for doors..
These buses are a waste of space, give me a double decker anyday.
mazeteam 3 years ago
There are reasons for driver operation of the doors. 1st, there is the obvious safety issues, people are not likely to know what to do. This relates to the 2nd reason, which is down to insurance, given that the insurance is far more complex when members of the public are operating moving parts of the vehicle themselves. 3rd, this would be open to abuse! When the button is pressed the brakes slam all on automatically, resulting in an immediate safety issue if pressed/leant on at the wrong time.
FYE2000 3 years ago
That's because it really is emergency only!
You should realise that on trams the passenger door buttons are completely safe because they only become operational when the driver activates them from the cab. If a similar system was adopted for the FTR it would cause no problems except for initial passenger unfamiliarity.
Most emergency opening mechanisms on trams and trains are handles protected by glass that must be broken to access them.
Buses in Brussels and Stuttgart have passenger buttons.
bwhugul 3 years ago
If a decent model of ticket machine had been bought for both on board buses and on street, we wouldn't have had so many people needing to buy tickets off conductors.
I am sure there are far more reliable ticket machines available than what were used when FTR was introduced.
bwhugul 3 years ago
Remember, York is a historic city with many bumpy narrow streets thus making it impossible to have the smooth road's with bus lanes we'd all love to have..
iamthecriticalone 3 years ago
Just before you stop the video , when you complain about the lights - its clearly turning green!
You cant expect the lights to turn green instantly, there may be an accident ;) + What about pedestrian crossings :p
dawatticus 3 years ago
I admit this, but it was worse at many junctions/crossroads such as the one between Rougier Street and Station Road. The traffic lights shown on the video could actually be regarded as good compared to other ones. Even on the traffic lights shown, I went on another ftr the same day, and I was held up for longer.
Perhaps if there weren't so many cars in York, people could get around more quickly in general.
bwhugul 3 years ago
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LillianColwynnsc 3 years ago
It don't get stuck at every light, they can change them, but it depends on the timing. Often the Rawcliffe Bar P+R lights change, then a bus comes flying out, and in bus lanes they jump the queues in their own lane changing their own lights!
The Leeds ones are better, they are Greener!
yorksteam 3 years ago
It's probably because of the route that Line 4 of York has to take. It just seemed to me that they were getting stopped all the time.
bwhugul 3 years ago
Is there anything particularly different about the Leeds ones to the York one? Hopefully the promoters of 'Swansea Metro' will have learnt the lessons of Leeds and York while they have the chance (i.e also watch this video), otherwise the Swansea ftr will be a disappointment.
Realistically, though, cities the size of Swansea and above should have a decent tram system to give the cities structure and attract new businesses. Britain is losing out to Europe because of the lack of mass transit.
bwhugul 3 years ago
The Leeds onse are more enviromently freindly! They be newer, along with our number 29
yorksteam 3 years ago
For a while now (possibly before I even made this video), staff have been issuing tickets rather than the machines. This makes great sense in terms of customer service, but how could they do that when the bus is full?
Also, wouldn't it be a good idea now to simply remove the 'no entry' stickers from the back door and encourage people to enter it from the street as they would on a tram?
After all, the only reason for the front door entry was to make sure ppl passed the ticket machine.
bwhugul 3 years ago
the government appears to be constantly pressuarising and hounding out motorists. owning and maintaining a car is already shockingly extrotionate, without more taxes based upon the un-proven theory of global warming. im thinking seriously about getting rid of my car - even though its a peice of crap it still metaphorically rapes my savings. as a country were going to hell in a handbasket.
Willforbes296532 4 years ago
It taxes people for the 'privilege' of using public transport so they get in their cars, then the government gets loads of fuel duty from people who have lost faith! They are holding us to ransom
bwhugul 4 years ago
watch
ftrrocks 4 years ago
Passengers used to be able to push the button to open the doors themselves... But because First copped-out and never installed safety sensors above the doors, the doors instantly shut as soon as they were open and broke peoples' arms.
Have you ever heard them when the aircon is on full blast? NOISY!!
they get stuck on roundabouts
people have been prosecuted and fined £500 even though their ticket was valid, but stupid machine didn't work.
they bunch up in two's and three's.
mazeteam 4 years ago
Surely the passenger-operated buttons would not be the problem if the doors were closed by the driver and not by themselves while someone is still getting on or off! Perhaps auto-close wasn't needed - the doors only respond to driver command now!
bwhugul 4 years ago
I rode on one these a while ago. I get the impression they are one big cop out. as far as buses go, they are very good. But however you dress it up, it still IS just a bus. The Cities of the North need and deserve dedicated Metro systems if people living there are to be persuaded to leave their cars at home. A nice well rounded video though. A good review of the ftr.
shelltune 4 years ago
Yes, Britain should NOT have got rid of its tram lines as these would be very useful now.
Also, why has Birmingham, an area comparable to the size of Barcelona (itself with SIX metro lines) with nearly a million people not including the other West Midlands cities, not got an Underground whilst Newcastle (smaller than Birmingham) has?
And the Midland Metro tram doesn't even go to New Street station!
bwhugul 4 years ago
A very good question. Be sure to remember it when the government next applies pressure on you to abandon your car.
Britain just does not take mass transit seriously. The exchequor makes too much from fuel duty to risk killing the goose that lays the golden egg.
shelltune 4 years ago 2
And the ftr is the cheapo way of our government saying it has done its bit (which it has not really!)
Think of Leeds. It is HUGE and has upwards of 500,000 people with Bradford (another giant of 300 to 400,000 people) right next door!
West Yorkshire should have been top priority for a tram or metro, yet all it gets is a bus with a tram costume on! The Leeds Supertram needs reinstating NOW.
bwhugul 4 years ago
Blame ALISTER DARLING. This joke of a man denied funding for several projects to save the government money, yet was smiling ear-to-ear when FTR got launched (as it was nice and cheap)...
Alister Darling tried to save money as Transport Secretary, and as Chancellor he has potentiall lost loads of money through the lost discs saga... anyone would think he can't do his job!!
mazeteam 4 years ago
York might even get a tram-train on the Harrogate line (being converted for this) - it could lead to trams in the centre! This is far more attractive than just another bus.
The ftr should really be for cities of York's size at the most, and all other places should have their trams back!
bwhugul 4 years ago
FTR doesn't even work for York - believe me!!
mazeteam 4 years ago
There appear to be upwards of 2 million people in the West Midlands (according to Google Earth). I am surprised that things aren't really really bad there. The road network must be creaking at the schemes with this poor provision of mass transit.
bwhugul 4 years ago
What happened to the big red busses of the West Yorkshire Bus Co.? And the dark blue East Yorkshire double-deckers shaped to pass under the arch at Beverley?
PMDVD 4 years ago
Now the East Yorkshire buses are red (and just standard modern ones), whilst there is no longer one called West Yorkshire Bus Co (alternatively it might have been what Coastliner was before).
It looks like FirstGroup are dissing the traditional double decker in favour of FTR. However, other bus companies such as Stagecoach and Cardiff Bus are being more sensible and are either getting new double decks or conventional artics.
bwhugul 4 years ago
Sorry, I thought you were insulting bwhugul, I was mistaken. please accept my apologies. Sorry once again, and do actually agree with your comments about certain people now I know who they were direced at.
addd9999 4 years ago
Well done, a very informative video, shame about the racist and homophobic comments (willforbes), the paranoid whinging(shortbusdriver), and the misspelling of "bus" by thechaplian. I think that there is similar issues with the Mercedes Citaro buses in London, as they have troubles with roads and cyclists there.
addd9999 4 years ago
i did not write any racist or homophobic comments. i was just defending ben from the 40 year old dickwipe who came on here accusing him of breaking the law.
Willforbes296532 4 years ago 3
the ticket machine dosnt give change and now theyve stopped using them because they always break!!! the stop alert is a stupid jingle and the next stop sign should be bigger and clearer and if there oing to call it the future why not have one by every few seats or in the back of the seats!!!!!!! the doors are slow to open and you have a stupid 1 way in system unlike trams where you can use any door and you cant open the door for yourselves!!!!!
yorkyboy1992 4 years ago 2
I totally agree with you on almost all the points you made! By looking at your username it appears you live in York so you must be very familiar with the FTR and will know what is best to be improved about it!
There are many other better ticket machines First could have chosen. I don't see why they chose a rubbish one!
bwhugul 4 years ago
They COULD have allowed people to enter via either door if another ticket machine had been put at the back. I guess they were trying to save money by squeezing everyone past the single ticket machine.
As for the stop displays it would have been pretty easy to put a red LED strip display with moving text (if you get what I mean!) onto the back of the seats and protect them from vandals by hard plastic covering.
bwhugul 4 years ago
has the person who filmed this any idea of hpw many offences he/she has commited ?
as for the door opening thins its safety as how do you know if the bus has STOPPED or is about to move off!!! DULLARD !!!
shortbusdriver1969 4 years ago
As for the door opening things, pressing the open button in a tram has ZERO effect unless the doors are released by the drivers. This method is SAFE, perhaps safer than if the doors were opened automatically by the driver as the person opening the door can see if someone is leaning against it whilst the driver's view is more limited!
bwhugul 4 years ago
I did NOT mean that passenger buttons should have an effect on the doors regardless of the bus being stationary or in motion. I meant that the driver would enable the passenger buttons and electrically LOCK the doors when they have closed. An emergency method of opening is retained, usually in the form of a handle with severe penalty for misuse.
bwhugul 4 years ago
By the 'qualities of a tram', I meant geniune features of a tram (which include the passenger buttons), not ones only used in emergencies on buses.
And WHAT offences have I committed. List the offences if you really care about it. I did NOT misuse emergency controls, I did NOT harass staff (I kept the camera away from people where possible), I MODIFIED the screenshot of the traffic light claims.
bwhugul 4 years ago
you filmed in side the ftr WITHOUT permission,
you also broke tight laws on filming in public and breach peoples human rights and privacey as you did not get permission to film them
shortbusdriver1969 4 years ago
Tight laws on filming in public apply to big rail interchanges and airports far more than they do on the street. As far as I am aware only on trains are conductors or other staff at all likely to baulk at someone else filming inside.
Another bus driver also commented on this page. He did not mention these laws about filming in public. If he was not antagonised about the interior of a bus being filmed by a member of the travelling public, does this really matter?
bwhugul 4 years ago
Actually seeing the positive and negative things about a vehicle for real is more effective than simply reading something that was written down about it. People are more likely to believe it if they actually see it. I am also providing feedback in the process, albeit in a different way to other customers.
Are people who film inside transport out of their own interest/hobby, or take interest in how things like buses and trams are operated, always regarded as terrorists?
bwhugul 4 years ago
and I did not film people - the camera was pointing at features of the vehicle and not the people. The closest thing to filming people was at 1 minutes 30 seconds and even then, it was showing the blue Yorkshire Coastliner bus through the window instead
bwhugul 4 years ago
COCK
Willforbes296532 4 years ago
What I did in making this video is legal as it is not intended to generate me ANY revenue, especially not at the expense of the work of others.
bwhugul 4 years ago
This video sucks ass. The buses aren't any different to ordinary busses - slightly more fuel efficient, but beyond that they are just busses and everyone in york sees them that way. Whoever made this video is a grade-A numpty. In fact - don't ever post again and save us all the hassle of laughing at you!
thechaplain 4 years ago
Alternatively you can just not bother to laugh at me.
A grade A numpty does not have the common sense written here.
bwhugul 4 years ago
this video does repulse me though. the thought of a train as gay as that going through york is disgusting.
Willforbes296532 4 years ago
THE COMMENT IS SIMPLE, gay
Willforbes296532 4 years ago
THE COMMENT IS SIMPLE, i am in york 5 days a week and cannot stand these hideous pink gay buses. they take up to much space and the 'amazing' technology inside is a waste of space. ps the music is as gay as julian clary
sprucemoose29 4 years ago
Perhaps they would be better if they were not pink and purple, as you are against the colour scheme!
I deliberately did not use mainstream music due to copyright issues.
To me the music used sounds technical (a little strange but funny) which kind of fits the theme of the video.
bwhugul 4 years ago
PINK !!!! PINK since when was a Ftr Pink
shortbusdriver1969 4 years ago
Very good points brought up on this vehicle. When i was a driver for Nottingham City Transport, they brought in bendy buses and said they would go anywhere a full size bus would, this wasn't the case, as in your points, if they want it to perform like a tram give it priority at lights and its own lanes.
nextstopproductions 4 years ago
I WAS FORGOTTEN TO SAY THIS : it seems me England has more difficulties with his tram-revivle as France...or some other country's ?..
daddycool9 4 years ago
THE COMMENT IS SIMPLE: IT'S NOT A TRAM..
You can't get a bus with 42 mtrs lenght per exemple and the bus is instable by heavy weight at high speed..Thanks for the respond on my video T2000-3000-4000...Sorry for my awfull english !
daddycool9 4 years ago
yeaaa get back to france frenchie. go and surrender to some more wars or something
Willforbes296532 4 years ago
OK?LEFT DRIVING PINKY!
daddycool9 4 years ago
my god a pinky aaaaah the horror of your shocking insult! Frenchie get back to bumming the eiffel tower
sprucemoose29 4 years ago